Australia’s Government Budgets AU $700K for Blockchain Study

“The Government will provide $0.7 million in 2018-19 for the Digital Transformation Agency to investigate areas where blockchain technology could offer the most value for Government services.”

It’s reported that the Australian government has allocated AU $700,000((about $521,000) to the Digital Transformation Agency for its exploration in the blockchain technology applications within the government services.

The government officials claim that the fund is part of the 2018-19 budget, which is to be gleaned from existing Agency resources and will be distributed in the following four years. Established in 2015, the Digital Transformation Agency is responsible for promoting the digital transformation of the Australian government and leading the country’s information and communication technology.

In the budget document granting the allocation, it states:

“The Government will provide $0.7 million in 2018-19 for the Digital Transformation Agency to investigate areas where blockchain technology could offer the most value for Government services.”

It is known that this is not the first time that the Australian government has resorted to the existing resources to explore the application of blockchain. In 2017, top research agency in Australia published two reports on the possible use cases of blockchain technology and their risks related to blockchain technology. Besides, in the end of 2017, the Australian government announced its plan to grant over AU $800 mln ($590 mln) to a blockchain-based pilot project of smart utilities.

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